A Good Night

Tonight we inducted many students into the National Honor Societies. It is always one of my favorite nights. As we near the end of the year the awards ceremonies provide this professional educator with a burst of enthusiasm for finishing the year strong. It also makes me reflect on the commitment that so many families make to their kids: to send them here, to make the financial sacrifice, but mostly to be present in their lives. While tonight is clearly about these great kids, it is also about strong families without whose support evenings like tonight would not be possible. So thanks.



Some students who probably should have been present tonight were not. As I expect parents to do, a few have loudly advocated for their children and volunteered some helpful information as to how we might better our selection process to insure its fairness. Every decision about human beings, whether yes/no, either/or, cut or keep involves some degree of subjectivity. Being on the wrong end of those decisions can be painful. Enduring that pain and then moving past it is a lesson we all have to learn. As parents, we'd like to postpone those lessons as long as possible. That said, we are engaged in a review of our honor society application process and will have some updates for our community in the coming weeks.



Finally, I hope my few faithful readers will enjoy a look at the progress we are making with CPAC:

Lobby/Gallery


Band RoomAuditorium roofAuditorium from mezzanine

Proactive versus Reactive

Last night I was surprised to discover that Channel 8 wanted to cover our parent meeting and I was faced with the prospect of deciding whether or not to allow that. Whenever the news media is involved, you have very little control over how the story is reported. A great example of that is last night Channel 8 promo'd the story on the meeting by talking about our zero tolerance policy and saying some parents were so upset that we we being sued. The meeting wasn't about the zero tolerance policy and to date, we have not been sued by anyone. They also used an image of Faith Academy in their promo, the 2nd time in as many weeks they have confused the two schools.

While I was greeting parents before the meeting the reporter chose to go outside and caught a couple of our students for their comments. I wish the students would have said something other than what they did, but I'm all for freedom of speech. However, normally when the press is on campus an adult is always present when they are interviewed.

The bottom line is that the story may not have accurately portrayed what the meeting was about: should Faith impose tougher drug testing standards on our students. I think it is a fair characterization to say that almost everyone present was supportive of the summer hair testing program. There may have been some in the audience apposed, but if so, they were very quiet.

One parent did raise an interesting point: is Faith prepared to lose a bunch of students because of the policy change? Honestly, it didn't occur to me that large numbers of families would withdraw students because of this. As a parent, I would want to know if my son or daughter had some drug involvement because the earlier intervention occurred, the more likely it would have some impact. I hope and pray that is true for all of our families. But if it isn't, I hope we still proceed. If it is a good idea, fear should not defeat it. If it is a bad idea, I hope more people would speak up and defend their point of view.

There are legitimate arguments to make against this proposed change, just as there are legitimate arguments against our zero tolerance policy. School administrators weigh those arguments carefully as policy is crafted. We try to do what is best for all of the students even though individual circumstances may create some perceptions of unfairness. Our aim is to do no harm, but it also to aggressively pursue those measures that can warn and protect students from involvement with drugs and alcohol.

A Preview of Coming Attractions

What's the point of reading a blog if you can't get the good stuff first? This week the Board of Directors approved a petition to the NIAA that would allow Faith to participate as a 4A school effective with the 2009-10 school year. Since the NIAA has not declined requests for schools to "move up" it seems very likely this will happen.

We have some work to do in order to improve our competitiveness at that level. We will be looking to expand and improve our weight training facility. We would like to be able to at least practice tennis on campus. The flooring in the Kalb Student Center needs to be more multipurpose. The addition of another soccer/lacrosse field is high on the priority list. Over the next few months we'll be looking at ways to get those projects done without busting our very tight budget.

I am also happy that Mrs. Heislen will return to Faith and resume her role as Middle School Principal. This will be her third stint at Faith which is God's way of gently telling her this is where she belongs!. Mrs. Heislen brings wisdom and enthusiasm to her tasks and we are blessed to have her back.

Faith Faithful

I often tell people I have the best job of any Lutheran school administrator in the country. Today I spent three hours figuring out that's not really true. Today we held our annual Faith Faithful recognition, a time we take to honor those students who have been here since 6th grade (or 7th grade for 1st Good Shepherd students.) About 45% of the class of 2008 falls into that category. Mrs, MacAllister, Mrs. Ball, Mr. Laufer and several others spoke eloquently, emotionally and often kiddingly about these students who they had come to know over the 6 or 7 years they attended here. I was jealous.

I miss building those relationships with students, a task complicated when it may often seems with students that my job is to put the hammer down. Few in the Faith Faithful group had ever been to my office, a testimony to their character and to some good parenting. That I do not know many of them well is my loss, one we will all feel next August when this group of fine young men and women no longer walk our halls.

Two Millon Minutes

Today most of the HS faculty watched a documentary with the above title. It was a snapshot of the lives of 6 high school students: 2 in the U.S.; two in India; and two in China. Not surprisingly, students in China and India study a lot more than American students. They go to school more than American students. And generally their academic coursework is significantly more demanding. The students profiled in the US had a lot more options. One worked, was involved in student government, was a former football player and a national merit semi-finalist. In short American students had more fun (some would say balanced) and had more options than their international counterparts.

The issues raised in the film can hardly be addressed by Faith. American schools have been in crisis for as long, or longer, than my 30 years in education. I was educated in the post-Sputnik era, a time now fondly remembered by educators for the spate of reforms that were generated. We are now 25 years past A Nation At Risk and there have been few changes I would call systemic. Students today are pretty much educated the way I was: they just have access to a lot more gadgets. We know vast amounts more about how students learn, but little of that makes it way into school classrooms.

It may take a crisis, the kind that generates social upheaval, economic calamity or political disruption, to alert more of our leaders that we continue to prepare students for a world that no longer exists. That would be painful for us all, but it may be the medicine needed to spark genuine change. I hope I am around to see it and equally hopeful the symptoms don't kill the patient before the medicine arrives.

In our little corner of the world we'll continue to look at ways we can improve, one day at a time.

Inspiration

Saturday I attended the memorial service for Bill Koerwitz. It was amazing to hear his children and grandchildren reflect on the impact he made on their lives. We saw a video that touched on the way Bill's company helped shape Las Vegas over the last several decades. Our library and baseball field bear the Koerwitz name and Bill and Elsie gave the lead gift for the CPAC. His impact on our school will never be forgotten. But what ran through all the stories that were told was how much he had taught people by his example. Whether at church, work or with his family, his quiet determination, work ethic and quirky sense of humor made an impact on virtually everyone who came to know him. It is said that teachers touch lives through eternity. If that is true, Bill Koerwitz was a truly great teacher. He will be missed.

An Interesting Day

The day began with parking procedures that went remarkably well. Despite a significant section of the west lot being unavailable, the volunteers from the Explorers, Metro and our own staff managed things quite nicely.

Every 15 Minutes is a powerful program. I am so grateful to all the participants: Metro, Fire and rescue, Mercy Air, the Coroner's Office, Palm Mortuary, UMC and probably some I don't know about. Dan Buikema provided the leadership on the school side. The accident scene was graphic. Our students performed their roles realistically. Seeing the names of classmates on grave markers and hearing/reading obituaries should make it personal for our students. With the assembly tomorrow, I find it impossible to imagine this program won't have an impact. But will it be enough to overcome the eternal quest of young people to rebel against the rules imposed by adults?

This program is one of the ways we try to educate students about the dangers of drug and alcohol use/abuse. We are going to talk about some other potential steps the school might take at a "Town Hall" meeting on April 17. Now the last such event we had in February was about the potential move to 4A athletics. Attendance for that event was smaller than I expected. These issues touch the lives of every student at Faith. I am hoping for a bigger crowd.

Meanwhile, while the HS students were engaged in Every 15 Minutes, many of our MS students were hearing from Jim and Pam Voelkel, authors of Middleworld, a Mayan themed adventure tale. Their experiences were fascinating and gave our students a look at a world few are familiar. They also got to see Mr. Boche in some ancient Mayan dress, which was certainly a highlight of my day:

Tonight we have a concert featuring the band from Mayer Lutheran High School in Minnesota. I don't remember this much stuff happening when I was in school.